LONDON (AP) — Max Dowman, who became the youngest player to feature in the Champions League at the age of 15 this season, has signed a pre-contract agreement with Arsenal that will lead to him securing professional terms when he turns 17.
Arsenal announced the deal on Friday and manager Mikel Arteta appeared to draw comparisons with Lionel Messi when asked if he had seen a youngster with such talent and a strong mentality.
“What he’s done with us at the age of 15, me personally I haven’t seen it before,” Arteta said. "Only with a guy that used to play in Barcelona, but not even that.
“He (Dowman) has a certain charisma as well and personality as well. He doesn’t get overwhelmed, whether it’s by the situation, the stadium or the opponent. That’s a huge quality to have.”
Arteta was at Barcelona when Messi was coming through the ranks, though the Argentina great didn't make his competitive debut for the Spanish team until he was 17.
Dowman was 15 years, 208 days when he came on as a substitute in Arsenal's 3-0 win at Slavia Prague in November. No 15-year-old had previously played in Europe’s top club competition.
In August, he became the second-youngest player — behind Arsenal teammate Ethan Nwaneri — to feature in the Premier League.
England internationals Bukayo Saka and Myles Lewis-Skelly are other players to have come through the Arsenal academy in recent years.
“I’ve been at the club my whole life, so this really means a lot," Dowman said. "There’s such a clear pathway here, players who have come through our academy, like Bukayo, Myles and Ethan, who all really inspire me.
"It’s amazing to have role models so close that have experienced the same thing that I have. I’m now so excited to continue to work hard with my development.”
Dowman, who still attends school, is a left-footed attacking midfielder who joined Arsenal at the age of 5 in May 2015 and made his debut for Arsenal’s under-18s at age 13. He was only 14 when he was asked by Arsenal Arteta to train with the senior team.
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FILE - Arsenal's Max Dowman warms up prior to the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Slavia Prague and Arsenal in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
BEIJING (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in the Chinese financial center of Shanghai on Friday in his bid to boost business opportunities for British firms in the world's second-largest economy, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a possible opposition to any deal between Beijing and London.
Starmer, the center-left Labour leader, has brought more than 50 business leaders on his trip to China, the first by a U.K. prime minister in eight years.
He started his trip in Beijing, where he met with Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping. The two pledged to pursue a long-term and stable strategic partnership, in what was seen as a sign of improving ties after several years of friction between the two countries.
In Washington, Trump suggested that he may oppose any deal, and then pivoted to Canada, with which he has had a series of sharp exchanges since Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China earlier this month.
“Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that,” he said, when asked about Starmer’s visit and any U.K. trade talks with Beijing. “And it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China. Canada is not doing well. They’re doing very poorly.”
“You can’t look at China as the answer,” he said.
Starmer and Carney are among a series of foreign leaders visiting Beijing as their nations seek to improve ties with China. Many have seen their countries’ economies buffeted by Trump’s tariffs and are looking to expand other export markets.
Starmer said that Xi agreed to remove a travel ban that had been imposed on several British lawmakers after the U.K.'s former center-right Conservative government joined the European Union, Canada and the U.S. in imposing sanctions on four Chinese officials over evidence of rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim people in the far western Xinjiang region.
“This has been a cause of concern in Parliament and for parliamentarians for some time and that is why I raised it on this visit," Starmer told ITV News. “The response from the Chinese is that the restrictions no longer apply and President Xi has told me that that means that all parliamentarians are welcome to visit.”
It wasn't clear if the U.K. offered anything in return for lifting the sanctions on British lawmakers, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the two sides agreed to normal exchanges between their legislatures.
Lawmakers who had been sanctioned, including former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, issued a statement rejecting any deal to lift the sanctions in exchange for diplomatic and economic concessions.
“We wish to make our position unequivocally clear: we would rather remain under sanction indefinitely than have our status used as a bargaining chip to justify lifting British sanctions on those officials responsible for the genocide in Xinjiang," the group of seven said in a joint statement.
Darlene Superville in Washington, and Brian Melley in London, contributed to this report.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, center, arrives for a UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China in Beijing Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends the UK-China Business Forum held at the headquarters of the Bank of China (BOC) in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers remarks at a UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China in Beijing Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP)
From left, Zheng Zeguang, Chinese ambassador to to Britain, Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ge Haijiao, Chairman and Executive Director of the Bank of China Limited (BOC) pose for photos in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
